posted at 8:01 am on March 19, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

(VATICAN CITY) It’s 2013, and it’s 6:15 in the morning in Rome, but the scene puts me right back to the 2011 beatification of John Paul II. Transportation services stop well short of their destinations, unable to compete with the foot traffic streaming toward St. Peter’s Square. The sun — absent the last few days in wind, chill, and rain — glints down the slightly damp basalt-cobblestone streets, and it’s more cool than chilly. Cafes and trattorie that would never open this early now rush to put out their billboards, advertising take-away breakfasts. I’m starving, but I don’t dare stop; I may not make it through the crowds that have already assembled, even with my press pass.

For me, at least, that’s the one big difference between the 2011 beatification and now. I couldn’t get within a quarter-mile of St. Peter’s Square in 2011, but now the press pass gets me through five or six security barriers set up around the piazza. Tens of thousands — probably more than 100,000 — have already turned out three hours before the Inauguration Mass of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome that will officially install Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis, a ceremony that has drawn 132 national delegations at last count and representatives from most Christian ecclesial communities and other major religions.

The security barriers are holding when I take this picture of the crowd waiting at this end of Via Conciliazione, but that doesn’t last long:

No sooner do I put my camera back in the bag than the cordon ruptures, and a small group of pilgrims run for the Carlo Magno colonnade that emerges from the left side of the basilica. A police officer stops me as a swarm of security personnel rushes to plug the gap, one yelling in English to the crowd, “Push back! Push back!” While I wonder for a moment why he used English instead of Italian, the policeman allows me to proceed up the same pathway as the lucky few who got away.

I’m not more than 30 meters away when I hear shouting behind me, and suddenly I’m in the middle of a Pamplona run as a major jailbreak rushes past me … led in part by nuns. I only have time to whip out my smartphone to grab a few images:

By this time, I’m close to the media center, so I decide to step out of the way of the stampede, which runs square into another security barrier. When I see a break in the rush, I move across the path quickly to a security officer, who allows me through an opening in the barrier that goes in the opposite way of the pilgrims, onto Via Sant’Uffizio and the media center. By this time it’s 6:40, the end of a 25-minute trek across the square that normally takes about five minutes to complete. And the Mass is still almost three hours away.

As a journalist with temporary accreditation, I have two options for covering the Mass. The first is identical to Sunday’s coverage of the Angelus — standing on the Carlo Magno braccio, four stories or so up above the square, only this time for four or five hours. The other is to watch it from the media center. Given that I don’t have the kind of high-power lenses that would make ground shots look worthwhile, and that my feet and legs are already quite sore from the previous ten days of walking with 40 pounds of equipment on my back, I opt for the media center. We’ll get a much better view of the Mass from here, and I can actually write during the morning. And given the size and passion of the crowds in the square, it will probably be the only oasis of calm in the area until mid-afternoon.

The Pope arrived right on time at 8:50 in the morning, not in the bullet-proof Popemobile but in the open Jeep. (How long will it take after 1981 to not pray for the Pope’s safety while riding in the open? Longer than 32 years, unfortunately.) The Vatican arranged the barriers so that Francis could drive through as much of the crowd as possible. At one point, the pontiff climbed down to kiss and bless a disabled elderly man cradled by a younger man, and spent a couple of minutes conversing with the two. At another point, he stopped to kiss children held aloft by their parents.

Interestingly, the square did not fill up this morning as the Pope wended his way through the barriers. This is not a civil holiday for Rome, and the mid-week Mass along with the security and transportation restrictions may have convinced some Romans to avoid the event. The Sunday Angelus appears to have been the popular event of the pontificate’s launch, which drew somewhere between 150,000 and 300,000 people by various estimates. In contrast to Sunday, the Via Conciliazione did not fill up immediately, and the back sections of the square still had some room for any late-arriving pilgrims. By the end of the service, though, the sections had completely filled in, and the crowd stretched nearly to the end of the Via Conciliazione.

After vesting in St. Peter’s Basilica, the mass started at 9:40 local time. Francis’ homily emphasized the centrality of service to the poor in the mission of the Catholic Church, according to the embargoed version of his prepared remarks.

Francis of Assisi demonstrated respect and love for all of God’s creation, “respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live,” but more to the point, “protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.” Therefore, Francis implored “all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political, and social life” to be “protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature.”

Today is the Feast Day of St. Joseph, and the readings reflect his role in the Holy Family. The Pope elaborated on the lessons of St. Joseph, exhorting the audience to “protect Jesus and Mary” as Joseph did, and to “hope against hope” to believe and serve. Even his own power as pontiff, Francis explained, is ordered to service. “Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love,” Francis said, ” are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service … [The Pope] must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important[.]” Francis emphasized the the need for service in his mission: “Only those who serve with love are able to protect!”

The Mass ended well ahead of the predicted two-hour running time, a reflection of the simplicity demanded by Francis in the ceremony of the inauguration. Much of the crowd remained well after the pontiff returned to St. Peter’s Basilica to remove his vestments and prepare to greet the dignitaries in a lengthy receiving line that began to form almost immediately. Others meandered back down Via Conciliazione and other exits, certainly back through Piazza di Resorgimento, the path I had taken to arrive, the bells of St. Peter’s pealing behind them as they left. Once free of his ceremonial vestments, Francis walked with new energy to the altar of St. Peter and began to receive his guests, starting with Argentina president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The papal transition has now been completed.

Update: Joe Biden managed to keep his soul, apparently. I saw him momentarily in a camera pan of the dignitaries.

Update II: According to Italian news network Rai, the Vatican estimates that 200,000 people attended the Mass.

I was particularly impressed with Pope Francis’s stopping and going over to the disabled gentleman. (This is not to say that previous popes wouldn’t have done it, but I thought it was such a beautiful thing to do by any pope.)

Having Joe Biden there representing us reminds me of the Chris Rock line about Marion Berry being on stage at the Million Man March. To paraphrase – Even in a moment of positivity… we have an idiot on the stage.

Papa Francisco deidced to individually bless and thank each of the people attending Mass at St. Ann’s and then actually greeted and shook hands with the crowd that was outside near the street. The security people looked beside themselves in the videos. I actually caught some of the Mass live on CNN and they were joking that the only people not charmed by Papa were his security detail. I’m sure that they’ll be able to adjust.

Papa Francisco is a huge breath of fresh air and probably what the Church needs right now. I do appreciate Benedict’s humility in resigning, but I’m thinking that Bergolio should have probably been elected in 2005 instead and Ratzinger could have retired and spent time writing. The modern day Papacy is more suited to someone with Bergolio’s pastoral experience and political and personal skills.

Papa Francisco is a huge breath of fresh air and probably what the Church needs right now. I do appreciate Benedict’s humility in resigning, but I’m thinking that Bergolio should have probably been elected in 2005 instead and Ratzinger could have retired and spent time writing. The modern day Papacy is more suited to someone with Bergolio’s pastoral experience and political and personal skills.

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 9:30 AM

The Holy Spirit sends us the right person at the right time. And, Benedict continued to write even during his pontificate. He’s written something like 40 books, so it’s not like he needed to spend the last eight years writing.

Papa Francisco is a huge breath of fresh air and probably what the Church needs right now. I do appreciate Benedict’s humility in resigning, but I’m thinking that Bergolio should have probably been elected in 2005 instead and Ratzinger could have retired and spent time writing. The modern day Papacy is more suited to someone with Bergolio’s pastoral experience and political and personal skills.

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 9:30 AM

Pope Benedict XVI was an important Pope and it serves no constructive purpose to denigrate the contributions of his pontificate…imho

Pope Benedict XVI was an important Pope and it serves no constructive purpose to denigrate the contributions of his pontificate…imho

The modern day papacy is a media meme.

workingclass artist on March 19, 2013 at 9:42 AM

Vatican City and the Church are quite a mess with the leaks scandal and report as well as child abuse scandals and cover ups all over the world. The same issues that were facing Benedict in 2005 are still present today. In fact, alot of people think the Cardinals voted for Ratzinger because they wanted the pitbull to come in and knock heads and clean out the corruption. I think that alot of his Papacy was spent on stuff that wasn’t the central issue. The Church’s main problem isn’t liturgical departures from Vatican II council; it’s transparency and openness (i.e. not covering up child abuse.)

Pope Benedict XVI was an important Pope and it serves no constructive purpose to denigrate the contributions of his pontificate…imho

The modern day papacy is a media meme.

workingclass artist on March 19, 2013 at 9:42 AM

Vatican City and the Church are quite a mess with the leaks scandal and report as well as child abuse scandals and cover ups all over the world. The same issues that were facing Benedict in 2005 are still present today. In fact, alot of people think the Cardinals voted for Ratzinger because they wanted the pitbull to come in and knock heads and clean out the corruption. I think that alot of his Papacy was spent on stuff that wasn’t the central issue. The Church’s main problem isn’t liturgical departures from Vatican II council; it’s transparency and openness (i.e. not covering up child abuse.)

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 9:56 AM

That is your opinion.

I doubt Pope Francis shares it as he seems to go out of his way to pay respect to his predecessor, who is now in seclusion.

Each pontificate is different and Pope Francis will have his pastoral and governing focus just as Benedict XVI and Blessed John Paul II did.

The Church is need of reform that renews and each of these Popes play their role in that renewal.

The Holy Spirit sends us the right person at the right time. And, Benedict continued to write even during his pontificate. He’s written something like 40 books, so it’s not like he needed to spend the last eight years writing.

Ward Cleaver on March 19, 2013 at 9:37 AM

THIS. So very much.

Illinidiva,
You either believe the Holy Spirit guides the process or you don’t. There’s a time for each one and each call is answered accordingly. Each pope has a purpose. Pope Benedict XVI was a great pope. Everyone were simply disappointed that he wasn’t the rock star that Pope JP II was. Not his fault. He served and he served well. Even Pope Francis preferred Pope Benedict XVI to be elected at that time if the reports about that conclave are to believed. So, please stop. We get it. You like pope Francis, a lot. But there’s no need to bring down the Benedict XVI papacy to do that. In EVERY SINGLE THREAD.

Considering some of the really awful and corrupt Popes that we got in the Middle Ages, the conclave hasn’t always been guided by the Holy Spirit or lots of Cardinals weren’t listening. It seems like there is alot of politicking and horse trading was going on (if you’ve ever seen the Borgias.) Even with the modern conclaves, they definitely discuss the criteria for the next Pope and trading among different factions. There are some fascinating leaks to come out of this last conclave. I prefer to think that the Holy Spirit provides the Cardinals with general wisdom for them to use rather than choosing the next successor. But that is just my take.

As for Benedict, I appreciate that he resigned when he felt that he physically couldn’t take it anymore. In fact, given the scandals associated with the Church really started when JP II got ill, I think that he should have really resigned when he got weaker torward the end.

I understand the concern about the cover up of child molesting priests but then you have to ask about this wee small problem that you only ever hear about on a case by case basis and never as the the problem the Church had as a institution wide problem and this affects schools …. unions at a rate some have said is 100 times more frequent that priestly abuse ever was

Consider the statistics: In accordance with a requirement of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, in 2002 the Department of Education carried out a study of sexual abuse in the school system.

Hofstra University researcher Charol Shakeshaft looked into the problem, and the first thing that came to her mind when Education Week reported on the study were the daily headlines about the Catholic Church.

“[T]hink the Catholic Church has a problem?” she said. “The physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests.”

So, in order to better protect children, did media outlets start hounding the worse menace of the school systems, with headlines about a “Nationwide Teacher Molestation Cover-up” and by asking “Are Ed Schools Producing Pedophiles?”

No, they didn’t. That treatment was reserved for the Catholic Church, while the greater problem in the schools was ignored altogether.

As the National Catholic Register’s reporter Wayne Laugesen points out, the federal report said 422,000 California public-school students would be victims before graduation — a number that dwarfs the state’s entire Catholic-school enrollment of 143,000.

Well done, Ed. You really are having a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks for the great report and narrative. Now on to your next assignment. Find Joe Biden and catch him saying something that only Biden can say. Maybe asking the Pope how his wife is?

The cover-up is always worse than the crime. The issue with the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is rather than removing the priests who were abusing kids from ministry and turning over cases to the authorities the abusers were shuffled from parish to parish and more kids fell victim. That opaqueness needs to be ended.

I think that the whole thing was exasperated because it came at the end of JP II’s papacy when he was ailing. So the approach was piecemeal. The U.S. has righted its ship, but there really needed to be a more global approach as allegations popped up in places like Ireland.

Considering some of the really awful and corrupt Popes that we got in the Middle Ages, the conclave hasn’t always been guided by the Holy Spirit or lots of Cardinals weren’t listening. It seems like there is alot of politicking and horse trading was going on (if you’ve ever seen the Borgias.) Even with the modern conclaves, they definitely discuss the criteria for the next Pope and trading among different factions. There are some fascinating leaks to come out of this last conclave. I prefer to think that the Holy Spirit provides the Cardinals with general wisdom for them to use rather than choosing the next successor. But that is just my take.

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 10:52 AM

Which is all true but they too served a purpose and the Church has greatly learned from that. Every pope and every occurrence has served the Church to learn from their past mistakes and grow in strength. Even the Reformation had it’s purpose. I have no problem with your opinions or you stating them, honestly. You have made your preference for Pope Francis over Pope Benedict but do you have to say it in every single thread about Pope Francis? That’s my only grouse.

Papa Francisco is a huge breath of fresh air and probably what the Church needs right now. I do appreciate Benedict’s humility in resigning, but I’m thinking that Bergolio should have probably been elected in 2005 instead and Ratzinger could have retired and spent time writing. The modern day Papacy is more suited to someone with Bergolio’s pastoral experience and political and personal skills.

I’m sure the gaggle of dignitaries will be laughing at Biden as he tries to take front and center on the stage. What a boob.

ultracon on March 19, 2013 at 9:54 AM

That word fits him so well it seems actually to have been invented just for him.

Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a really short Papacy?

unclesmrgol on March 19, 2013 at 12:46 PM

While I’d rather he were around a good long time, I’m sure he’s very spiritually ready to go.

God’s in charge in any case. If it’s a short papacy, am sure God can use that for the good of the Church too, in ways we can’t even imagine. (Look what happened after the shock of the short papacy of Pope John Paul I, for example.)

The security people are apparently already throwing fits. Many, many fits. But you knew that the open air jeep was going to happen especially after what happened on Sunday.

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 8:49 AM

Especially if Joe Biden is in the audience. Did he bring his double-barreled shotgun, or did he leave it behind with his wife?

Seriously, Pope Francis seems to be a breath of fresh air, with his call to service, starting with his own service to God and fellow man. He sounds a lot like our FIRST President, George Washington, who eschewed fancy titles and called himself the servant of all his countrymen.

Vatican City and the Church are quite a mess with the leaks scandal and report as well as child abuse scandals and cover ups all over the world. The same issues that were facing Benedict in 2005 are still present today. In fact, alot of people think the Cardinals voted for Ratzinger because they wanted the pitbull to come in and knock heads and clean out the corruption. I think that alot of his Papacy was spent on stuff that wasn’t the central issue. The Church’s main problem isn’t liturgical departures from Vatican II council; it’s transparency and openness (i.e. not covering up child abuse.)

Illinidiva on March 19, 2013 at 9:56 AM

Benedict XVI was well aware of the sex abuse scandals, and made serious efforts from the start of his Papacy to crack down on seminaries which encouraged the admission of gay men to the priesthood, which were the root of the sex abuse scandals. A priest is assumed to sacrifice his sexuality for God, and a man not sexually attracted to other men will concentrate his thoughts on his studies in the all-male environment of a seminary. But a seminary is a target-rich environment for a gay man, who will tend to prey on boys once he is admitted to the priesthood.

After the death of Pope John Paul II, there was much turmoil in the Church over who could succeed him, and whether a more socially “liberal” Pope should be elected, who would condone homosexuality or Marxism. Cardinal Ratzinger was John Paul II’s right-hand-man, who co-wrote many of John Paul II’s encyclicals during his later years, when John Paul’s health was failing. His election as Pope was a way of continuing John Paul’s papacy without him, and Benedict XVI enabled the various tendencies in the Church to be harmonized before turning over the reins to a younger leader.